Burton Y. Berry

Burton Yost Berry (August 31, 1901 – August 22, 1985) was an American diplomat and art collector.[3]

Burton Y. Berry
Personal details
Born	Burton Yost Berry August 31, 1901 Fowler, Indiana
Died	August 22, 1985 (aged 83) Zürich, Switzerland
Nationality	United States
Alma mater	Indiana University[1] Collège de Sorbonne[2]
Occupation	Diplomat

Born in Fowler, Indiana, Berry studied at Indiana University. In 1928 he joined the United States Foreign Service. Berry served as Vice-Consul to Istanbul from 1929 to 1931, Consul to Athens in 1938, Istanbul 1943, Bucharest in 1944, Director of the State Department's Office of African, South Asian and Near East Affairs in 1947, Budapest in 1948, and as Ambassador to Iraq from 1952 to 1954.[3] He then retired, and lived in Istanbul, Beirut, Cairo and finally in Zürich.[3]

Early on in his career, Berry began to collect Middle Eastern textiles coins, gems, jewelry and other antiques. The textiles collection was donated to the Art Institute of Chicago.[4] Many of the coins were donated to the American Numismatic Society.[5] Much of the rest were donated to the Indiana University Art Museum.[6]

Footnotes

1. Indiana University alumni quarterly, Volume 9
2. Calinescu 1994, p. 4.
3. New York Times Obituary August 26, 1985
4. "Art Institute of Chicago". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2020-07-09.
5. American Numismatic Society
6. Indiana University: Research & Creative Activity Archived June 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine

References

• Berry, Burton Y. (1999). Romanian Diaries, 1944-1947. Center for Romanian Studies. ISBN 978-973-9432-07-8. OCLC 260090662.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Calinescu, Adriana (1994). The art of ancient jewelry: an introduction to the Burton Y. Berry Collection. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Art Museum. OCLC 31038145.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)